Tag: world championship

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First AIDA World Cup Series Winner, Liv Philip!

Friday 1st March 2013 – The British Freediving Association is delighted to announce that Liv Philip is the winner of the World Cup Series 2012. The World Cup Series is based on three World Cup events in depth – including Free Immersion, Constant Weight No Fins and Constant Weight. Liv is the first person to win this new accolade! The first competition in the World Cup Circuit was the 5th Mediterranean Cup Freediving Comp in Crete in June where Liv picked up a silver medal. At the 2012 AIDA Red Sea Freediving World Cup in September she did one better by winning gold. And in November, at the 2012 Vertical Blue the third and final competition, Liv secured the title by diving to an impressive Constant Weight No Fins dive of 50 meters.


Picture Credit: Alice Cattaneo

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Mike Board is Britain’s deepest man – 96m Constant Weight

Monday 10th December 2012; — Mike Board has officially claimed his place as Britain’s deepest man; at the Vertical Blue competition last month he pushed the men’s Constant Weight record of 91m to 92m, 94m and finally 96m. He attempted 100m to become the first Brit to officially cross the line, but despite being conscious on the surface was disqualified for forgetting to remove his noseclip.

Mike had already made his mark on British freediving with two National Records in the discipline of Free Immersion (pulling himself down and up a submerged, weighted rope) to a maximum depth of 83m. These records, and his closest of misses at the 100m, really solidify Mike’s reputation as an outstanding freediver.

The competition got off to a wobbly start as nerves got the better of Mike in this, his first, attempt at the lauded CWT title. On 20th November Mike turned early at 88m on his first attempt at 92m, however two days later managed to pull the record out of the bag with a dive to 92m in two minutes and 50 seconds.

With the record secured, the pressure was off, and things began to get very exciting for the British freediving instructor and owner of freediving school, Freedive Gili in Indonesia. On 26th November, Mike did a far more comfortable dive to 94m one second faster than his previous record, and on 28th he hit an incredible 96m the same depth as fellow Briton Sara Campbell’s former World Record in two minutes 51 seconds.

Buoyed by his success Mike decided to take a risk on his final dive and attempt the magic 100m. To all intents and purposes it was a clean, successful dive, however the protocol of competition requires that a diver removes all facial equipment before giving the ‘OK’ sign to the judges. Mike forgot to remove his noseclip, thereby disqualifying this attempt as an official British record.

Mike said: After having narrowly missed the National Record at the Worlds in Kalamata last year I set my sights on Vertical Blue to really test my ‘depth legs’. Equalisation looked like being my main barrier to achieving it, but with a few tweaks, which clearly worked, any by increasing the speed of my dives to reduce my hypoxia at the end of the dives, I not only stole the record from Dave King, but I broke my own record twice over! The Worlds are being held again in Kalamata next year and you can put money on me attempting the 100m once more officially then! For now it’s back to work in Gili, and training whenever I can find the time and depth.

Liv Philip, one of the UK’s top female divers, was also at Vertical Blue, and came third in the No Fins category with a dive to 50m, and an excellent fourth place overall after a very tough and tight battle with Japan’s Tomoko Fukuda.

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Indoor World Championships 2013

UK Team Selection

Applications for the UK Team – 2013 AIDA Indoor World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia are now open. The competition will take place from 21st-30th June and will include Dynamic apnea (without fins), Static Apnea and Dynamic Apnea (with fins).

We hope to send a full team of 3 men and 3 women per discipline, plus up to 2 additional athletes of each gender as substitutes, and a Team Captain/Coach (who may or may not be part of the competing team). Selection will be based on the highest proven performances in the three disciplines. (AIDA world championship team selection will be by AIDA ranked points dated from 18 months prior to 3 months before the competition entry deadline. In case of candidates wishing to be considered who do not have AIDA ranked points a performance witnessed by an AIDA Judge or AIDA UK Instructor will stand at 80% of the resulting outcome.)

If you are interested in competing for the UK in Serbia, please let us know by 24th FEBRUARY. Please send an email to chair@britishfreediving.org listing your highest AIDA ranked performances since September 24th 2011 in Static Apnea, Dynamic Apnea (with fins) and dynamic apnea (without fins) with details of where this ranking was obtained. If you do not have a ranked performance in any or all of these disciplines, please let us know your current best performances in training, and when you anticipate seeing those ratified officially. If you anticipate achieving a higher ranked performance in any of the disciplines in the next few months, please also let us know that in your email. If your geographical location makes it difficult for you to gain a ranked performance, please let us know and we will take this into consideration. If you are interested in going to Serbia as Team Captain/Coach, please let us know you are interested by 15th July, letting us know your experience in this area, and why you think you would be good for the job. Applications for the Team Captain/Coach position will be considered by the team once they have been selected, and appointed within one month of final team selection. If you make the decision to apply for the 2013 team, you obviously need to be available to be in Serbia for the dates above. You also need to be sure you can afford your flights and expenses and the entry fee of 420 Euros (which includes 9 days accommodation, 3 meals/day, the arrival package ,comp entry, training, ceremonies and an event tshirt.)

In the meantime the BFA will be doing all it can to gather both sponsorship and logistical support for the 2013 team. All competing athletes must be over 18 years old, UK citizens and members of the BFA at the time of the competition.

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British Freediving Team holds strong at AIDA Freediving World Champs in France

This September (8th to 16th) saw the biggest freediving World Championships so far. To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of AIDA, freediving came home to Nice, France the birthplace of AIDA all those years ago. 120 athletes were supported by a safety and logistics crew of well over 100 people.

Team UK 2012

The team this year consisted of Georgina Miller, Liv Philip (captain), and newcomer Beci Ryan for the women, and Gary McGrath, John Moorcroft and Tim Money for the men. We also had the support of two reserves, James Cluskey and Gary Lowe. Sara Campbell was also there teaching free yoga and meditation to the athletes.

The team was very kindly once again sponsored by top Italian wetsuit manufacturer Elios Sub (www.eliossub.com) and team kit was generously provided by British dive fashion brand SevenTenths (www.seventenths.com). The team is also grateful for sponsorship from Oceanic (www.oceanicuk.com), for providing us with amazing new dive computers by Aeris and lava core wear. This company is in exciting talks with the BFA’s sponsorship officer, James Cluskey for a longterm mutually beneficial relationship and we look forward to being able to announce exciting news in the very near future on this front.

Sevententh Sponsors Team UK 2012

With challenging conditions both in and out of the water a special mention should be made to Gary McGrath for his impressive personal best of 68m in Constant Weight. Tim Money also managed a new personal best in Constant weight of 60m. John Moorcroft who, after over 30 years in the sport is also still pushing his depths to never-before reached numbers – 67m in competition! Beci also did amazingly well, having started the sport this year, she entered the competition with a spirit of courage and endeavour and, despite very unfamiliar and stressful surroundings for a beginner, also delivered personal bests in all three disciplines! In The pool we saw another personal best in dynamic from Georgina Miller of 133m, she also made 6th place overall in the women’s static, Tim Money also delivered a very strong 169m. Liv, George, and Tim are seasoned athletes who also delivered consistent and strong performances, both competing and coaching the less experienced members of the team, which is a tall challenge at such a big and important competition.

A strong captain in Liv Philip, with support, coaching and fabulous photography by Daan Verhoeven and coaching and general care from Stavros Kastrinakis made a difficult event a success.

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World Championships 2012 – UK Team Selection

Applications for the UK Team – 2012 AIDA Team World Championships in Nice, France are now open.

The competition will take place from 8 – 16th Sept, deadline for entry 15th July.

For more information visit the competitions page by clicking on the right hand menu or go direct by clicking here.

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British men trash own records at Worlds

Monday 10th October 2011 : – The British men faced their toughest competition for records this year, with three strong athletes fighting for the No Fins title; Dave Tranfield, two-times holder of the title, newcomer Ed Wardle who took the record from Dave this summer at his first event; and Dave Kent, new to competitive freediving, who came through and surprised everyone, including himself.

At the 4th Mediterranean World Cup 1st-14th September athletes gathered from around the world to compete and prepare for the World Championships, taking place from 15th-25th September. Liv Philip shone for the women by taking Silver Medal overall in the women’s with CWT 61m, FIM 62m and CNF 46m.

Liv, who coaches and trains at London Freediving Club in Richmond, said: I’ve been working long hours back home to allow me to compete this summer and it’s been tough to fit training in, so I’m doubly pleased to have got a Silver Medal with so many strong athletes around.

On 14th September, the final day of the first comp, Dave Tranfield, or Tranny as he is affectionately known, although he prefers ‘Sheffield Steel’, and Ed Wardle who had ambitiously announced 65m, went head to head to push Ed’s 55m record deeper. Tranny, due in part to his greater experience, kept his cool and successfully dived to 56m in two minutes 25 seconds, breaking Ed’s former record by one metre.

Dave said: My dive started badly with a poor duck dive due to nerves and then my neck weight nearly knocked off my nose clip which barely hung on during the entire descent. But luckily equalisation went ok to the bottom and as soon as I took the tag I knew I had the dive. Unfortunately Ed didn’t make his dive, having announced 10m deeper than his former record, and making an early turn.

On 19th September, the first comp day of the AIDA Depth World Championships, Dave Kent joined the action, putting further pressure on Tranny and Ed, and the tables turned in Ed’s favour. Tranny made the most conservative announcement with 58m, followed by Ed with 60m and Dave Kent with 62m. Tranny was up first but didn’t make it. Ed completed a 60m dive, claiming his second National Record in two minutes 19 seconds. Ed said: I trained hard this year and it paid off, I managed to focus and it was as close to a perfect dive as I could have wished for, a solid 60m. Ed’s glory was short-lived as minutes later his record was broken by a Dave Kent, who made a clean and easy dive to 62m in two minutes 20 seconds. Kent, at his first ever major comp said: The world’s were awesome, it was great to meet so many athletes that up until then had just been names from hours of watching YouTube footage. My time in Kalamata has only reinforced my desire to attend further championships, and improve as a no fins freediver.

The other disciplines at the event were Free Immersion and Constant Weight. In the Mediterranean Cup on 13th September Mike Board did a 77m FIM to regain the National Record from Dave King who had set it at 73m in June in France. But on the 24th September the final day of the AIDA World Depth Championships, Mike extended this record by a further six metres setting a new record in FIM of 83m in a dive time of two minutes 55 seconds.

Mike said: “It’s been a fantastic month of training and dive performances for me that far exceeded my expectations. Training went well and I felt strong and confident enough to try new depths on the competition days.”

The team was sponsored by Elios wetsuits (www.eliossub.com) who donated the full team a brand new wetsuit each for the Worlds. Thank you, Elios!

Congratulations to all nine British athletes attended these two amazing events.

Dave Tranfield
Sara Campbell
Dave Kent
Liv Philip
Dave King
Georgina Miller
Ed Wardle
Mike Board
Gary McGrath (Med World Cup)

For more information contact press@britishfreediving.org
For images contact Hungry Eye Images: www.hungryeye.co.uk, email – matt.green@hungryeye.co.uk , tel – 07767 848133

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3rd Mediterranean Freediving World Cup

Seven British athletes attended the 3rd Mediterranean Freediving World Cup, between 6th and 20th June 2010, hosted in Kalamata Greece by Stavros Kastrinakis. Liv Philip, Georgina Miller, Maria-Teresa Solomons, Sue Pugh, Tim Money, David Tranfield and Mark Harris all competed.

In addition, Long-standing BFA committee member Ben Noble competed, representing Australia.

theteam
Photo provided by Laura Storm

A summary of their key achievements follows:

 

  • 2nd place for Maria-Teresa Solomons in the Women’s overall results
  • 3rd place for Liv Philip in the Women’s overall results
  • 3rd place for Mark Harris in the Men’s overall results
  • 2nd place for Maria-Teresa Solomons, Sue Pugh and Georgina Miller in the Women’s team results
  • A new British record in Constant-Weight No-fins of 53 metres for David Tranfield
  • A new British record in Free Immersion of 70 metres for Mark Harris
  • A new Australian record in Variable Weight of 100 metres for Ben Noble
  • A new Australian record in No-Limits of 105 metres for Ben Noble

 

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Sponsors of Team GB at the 2010 World Championships

The British Freediving Association (BFA) is very proud to announce that Team GB will be sponsored by Elios, Fourth Element and Suunto.

To visit any of our sponsors please click on the logo’s below.

FourthElementElios                        Suunto

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BFA selects Freediving Team for World Championships Okinawa, Japan

The British Freediving Association (BFA) has made its selection for Team GB to represent the UK at the 2010 Freediving Team World Championships in Okinawa, Japan. The event will take place from 30th June until 10th July,and Team GB will be sponsored by Elios wetsuits, Fourth Element clothing, and Suunto.

The UK will be represented by three of the most experienced athletes in the country: Sam Still, Maria-Teresa Solomons and Suzanne Pugh, making up a mixed team, which will compete in the men’s category.

To find out more about this or to download our offical press release please click here

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Competition hotting up for World’s Team selection

Six British athletes will be battling it out for a place on the Team going to Okinawa later this year, at two competitions being held in Dahab by Sara Campbell, supported by Freedive Dahab. Athletes listed to attend are:

Jay Cluskey
Chris Holmes
Mike Board
Anna Parayiar
Charlie Edwards
Sam Still

Static will be held on 18th March at the Swiss Inn Hotel, followed by two depth days on 21st and 22nd March in the Blue Hole for athletes to improve their rankings in Constant Weight.

Sara will be coaching the athletes in the run up to the competitions and all are hoping that her ‘magic mouthfill’ will rub off on them to get deep enough to qualify!

Good luck to everyone hoping to get on the squad!